Today's Wildlife Encounter

[Alf]

The Humble Starling...NOT!


Fight Club by Andy Holden, on Flickr

Squabbling over a few breadcrumbs in our back yard...similar to some threads on this forum:wink:

Great pic that Wharfey :thumbup: I haven't seen a starling for weeks in my garden. Time was I used to wish I didn't get them in the garden as they tended to steal all the food from the other birds but these days I would welcome them. Magpies seem to have replaced Starlings as the "gannets" of the neighbourhood.

[Alf]

I find it hard to believe that there are people who get excited about shooting such a wonderfully mysterious bird as the woodcock.

See this link... http://www.woodcock-hunting.com/#&panel1-5

And if one shoots a "right-and-a-left" (2 woodcock with one double-barreled shotgun) one can send away for a "tie, port glasses, bottle of apricot brandy, badge and scrap of fame from the Bols Snippen Club, now known as the Woodcock Club and run so well by Shooting Times" as read in this link...

http://www.shootingtimes.co.uk/featu...own_ghost.html

I guess shooters would say that if they weren't conserving woodland areas for shooting then woodcock wouldn't be around to shoot.

Sorry...I'm talkin' bollox...again!

Its the birds they maim and don't kill or other animals they hit unintentionally with their shot that crawl away and die slowly in misery that they don't consider.

[Zaf]

I have no major objection to country folk doing a spot of shooting for the pot or even really the artificial rearing of pheasants for other folk to prove their hunting prowess but having read these articles on the numbers of Woodcock that are taken from the shoot locations I don't see how its sustainable. No wonder they are rarely seen. Thoughts ?

[wharfeego]

...having read these articles on the numbers of Woodcock that are taken from the shoot locations I don't see how its sustainable. No wonder they are rarely seen. Thoughts ?

I feel that shooting woodcock is not sustainable; apparently the breeding population has been falling in recent years, perhaps because of less suitable habitat as conifer plantations become too mature for woodcock to find open enough breeding areas.

Believe it or not I actually unintentionally flushed a woodcock from some rushy grass today whilst walking to a point on a hill to take a landscape photo. The bird flew up from only a few feet away and even though I've seen woodcock on several occasions they're surprisingly much bulkier birds than I imagined them to be.

[Hes]

What upsets me is that there shouldn't be any hunting in Hackfall. It is managed by the Woodland Trust and yet I have seen the shooting parties sending their dogs in to collect the birds they've shot from across the river. I get really pissed off by the shooting parties that keep taking over the footpaths and acting as if they own the place when all they've done is pay a lot of money to blast the hell out of some birds that are, unfortunately, not very bright!

I find it hard to believe that there are people who get excited about shooting such a wonderfully mysterious bird as the woodcock.

See this link... http://www.woodcock-hunting.com/#&panel1-5

And if one shoots a "right-and-a-left" (2 woodcock with one double-barreled shotgun) one can send away for a "tie, port glasses, bottle of apricot brandy, badge and scrap of fame from the Bols Snippen Club, now known as the Woodcock Club and run so well by Shooting Times" as read in this link...

http://www.shootingtimes.co.uk/featu...own_ghost.html

I guess shooters would say that if they weren't conserving woodland areas for shooting then woodcock wouldn't be around to shoot.

Sorry...I'm talkin' bollox...again!

[Hes]

Definitely roe deer. Stolly sees them a lot there. Beautiful animals.

Deer in Cleatop Wood, the picture is as clear a view as I got of them, so no identification, but definitely too big for Sika Deer.
Also a robin sat on a gatepost within touching distance in front of a snowy backdrop. It didn't have the decency to sit still long enough for me to take my gloves off and get the camera out.

Attachment 6722

[Ze Monsta]

Roe Deer

Definitely roe deer. Stolly sees them a lot there. Beautiful animals.

Cheers both.

[DazTheSlug]

day out on the Coniston massif today
hurrying back to the car as it went dark
stream between Caw and Brown Haw
Otter
huge thing
narrow stream
panicked when it saw me and started jumping in and out trying to work its way downstream
only got one pic and it's a bit blurry, but I can put it up if anyone's interested...

[Hes]

:thumbup:Ooo, exciting stuff! yes, put the pic up, it'd be good to see it. There's otters along the Ure where I live but I haven't seen them myself yet.

day out on the Coniston massif today
hurrying back to the car as it went dark
stream between Caw and Brown Haw
Otter
huge thing
narrow stream
panicked when it saw me and started jumping in and out trying to work its way downstream
only got one pic and it's a bit blurry, but I can put it up if anyone's interested...

[Derby Tup]

A male chaffinch singing beautifully. Spring is coming